Korean Job Discussion Forums

Benicio · Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 4:50 am Post subject:

I started in EPIK many years ago.

-Getting your choice of cities is just a roll of the dice. There's no certainty of which place you'll get. Seoul is the most popular choice for everyone. It was my first choice and I got it, even though I was a late hire.
Now, I live in Busan and like it so much better than Seoul. You won't know what place you'll like best until you get here.

-You DON'T need all those vaccines. You probably want to get the Hep vaccines, but definitely skip the other ones. They're very expensive and really unecessary. Rabies, Typhoid and Japanese Encephalitis are not issues here. I wish I had known that before I threw away the sorely needed money for them.

-I agree that going with EPIK your first contract is the best choice as it is so much less of a gamble for working conditions. When going straight into a hogwan, you really don't know if it will be a good one or a nightmare. EPIK was not a perfect situation, but it was very reliable and helpful for me fresh off the boat.

Good luck!

Daithi · Joined: 19 Jul 2010

Thanks Benicio, I informed koreaconnections earlier that I had already applied and they thanked me for letting them know.

I think i'll just stick with EPIK. I mainly want Seoul or Busan, and have Incehon and Ulsan as my 2nd and 4th choice so if i get either of them i think i'll be close enough to what I want if not living exactly where I want.Especially considering a bed in a jimjilbang costs only �5 a night there should be no problem going out for a night to the city.

Thanks all for the advice on the vaccines also. I told my doctor that i only wanted the Hep A and B, so instead of a bill in excess of �600 i will now only have to pay under �200.
I was guessing that some of them weren't really a necessity (seeming as none are a requirement) but it's nice to hear it from people living in Korea.

alwaysbeclosing100 · Joined: 07 Feb 2009

Ruby Thursday · Joined: 29 Jun 2011

LOL at Allen Quatermain thinking he's off to the Congo. S.Korea is one of the most industrialized nations on planet Earth. 40 million people live on a swath of land the size of Pennsylvania. There's no need for vaccinations, Magellan.

And btw, you'll be teaching little kids who look at you like a babysitting clown to spell banana. You're not tagging Silverbacks in the rainforest big guy.

Daithi · Joined: 19 Jul 2010